Chelsea have drawn arguably the toughest possible Champions League quarter-final opponents in the eight-times winners and holders, Lyon. In the other tie involving a Women’s Super League club, Arsenal will play Bayern Munich.
Chelsea finished the group stage with more points than any other side, after five wins and one draw. They will face Barcelona or Roma if they progress, making their quest for a first European title as difficult as it could be. Lyon scored 10 goals but conceded six in Group C, suffering a bruising 5-1 home defeat by Arsenal, and became the first side to pass 100 UWCL wins.
Lyon finished behind Arsenal as runners-up but the French champions have been managing a squad ravaged by injuries. They have a number of key players returning at a critical stage.
Arsenal will have to get the better of Bayern, last season’s Bundesliga runners-up, to progress to a semi-final against Wolfsburg or Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern, third in the Bundesliga, are home to the former Manchester City midfielder Georgia Stanway, who has scored three times in the tournament, making her their joint-top scorer with Klara Bühl.
Arsenal’s 5-1 defeat of Lyon was a statement of intent but momentum has been ruptured by injuries to the Euro 2022 golden boot winner, Beth Mead, and the WSL record goalscorer, Vivianne Miedema. Arsenal have reached a record 15 quarter-finals and are the second club, behind Lyon, to get to 100 games in the competition.
As group winners both English teams will play the first legs away. Those will be take place on 21-22 March and the returns on 29-30 March.
